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Got around to sanding the bondo and masking it off, for the main blue. Trying something new (for me at least) I couldnt find any really thin masking tape, so Im trying out the automotive pin-stripping that I have. I had bought a new roll of the stuff for my last build, so I figured I'd give it a shot. My old technique is (theoretically) not as efficient in creating a even line of seperation. I think it will turn out very well after I paint it!

Oh my god! wow! This is gonna turn out excellent . Oh and Chris I changed my mind about the weathering and would like you to put just a bit of weathering, nothing heavy. Maybe just some smears , barely noticeable if you know what I mean

Oh my god! wow! This is gonna turn out excellent . Oh and Chris I changed my mind about the weathering and would like you to put just a bit of weathering, nothing heavy. Maybe just some smears , barely noticeable if you know what I mean

Main blue is painted and dried. Im going to need to grind down a bit of the interior portion of the visor area. Discovered that it has an uneven ridge that will prevent the visor from getting in. *will not touch the paintjob*

I taped off the helmet so I could paint the cheeks just now. I have to do the ear's seperatly, just based on the placement and trying to tape things off. I *may* need to redo some parts of the ocean blue. I think the humidity did something to the finish of it, Im not really sure, but I dont like it. So thats what's going on now. Depending on how quickly I can fix that issue, I want to be able to move onto Rub&buffing, and wethering hopefully by the end of this week or next. Just need to get that darn RF box!

Well, I usually dont like to do this, and I think others dont as well, talking about the mistakes/errors on my work, but this is to show the where the helmet is right now. I have not had much time as I had previously thought to get more work done. While I am very happy with how clean of a seperation line was created and the color of the cheeks, the pin-stripping tape was strong enough to pull off tiny bits of the light blue :ugh: What this means is that I need to tape off the cheeks completly, sand and re-paint the ocean blue. Also, despite being completly covered and filled, that darn crack reappeard. Im going to have to try and get something stronger. I know plastic weld would work, but I have had issues getting it smooth before. Would JB weld work?

Anyways, here are current pics of the helmet. Like I said, I usually dont like to show mistakes, but I dont want to *hide* anything.

The lighting really affects the look of the colors. The cheeks have a really nice even gloss on both sides. I ran out of blue masking tape, will have to get more tomorrow!

Okay, I finally had enough time today to get to fixing the mistakes. I sanded the blue, most of it, making it smooth all around. I decided to take this opportunity to go back and fix areas that were bugging me, such as the inside of the rim of the visor. The way the casting came out, you can see a very defined, even line that I am assuming, came from the mold, as to where the inner edge was "supposed" to be. Same thing along the inner vertical portion of the visor. I took some bondo to it, and will have to wait until tomorrow to sand, and add more if needed.

Im also going to JB weld over that crack. The unusual thing is that after I sanded the paint that was over it, I ran my finger over it, but I could not feel the crack. Oh well, still going to cover it.

Last night, I went and sanded the bondo down. It's looking alot better now, but it just needs a bit more to even out areas. Almost there, then I'll finish up the painting! And the RF stalk came in as well

Ok, here are some quick pics. Today I went ahead and finished up the upper/inner rim of the top of the visor area. The vertical portion though is not done, *should* be done by tomorrow, I just added bondo before taking these pics. I also put some JB weld over the crack. If it still appears after this, I dont know what will cover it up.

The parts on this that appear black, is actually level and flat, it may appear to be an un-even dip, but it is just the color of the material after sanding

Going to hit it with some primer to make sure everything is looking how I want it to before I paint it.

Cool its looking good! and hopefully that darn crack wont be an issue any longer. Perhaps if you placed something to hold the visor together until the visor is installed might help it from coming back.

Cool its looking good! and hopefully that darn crack wont be an issue any longer. Perhaps if you placed something to hold the visor together until the visor is installed might help it from coming back.

Yea, I'll see what I can put between the mandibles to hold it steady, but I hopfully wont need it now, cause the jb weld settled pretty strong lol

Going to finish sanding (hopefully no more bondo will be needed), paint some primer, and then correct anything else.

I also got the ILM cast RF box yesterday, thanks to BKBT for the help on that!

Alrighty then! Getting closer (in my mind at least lol) Sorry that it's taking longer then I usually would, to build one of these up, just this required a bit extra work on top of school. So Im done using bondo! I just finished up the inner edge of the visor along the mandible, and I feel it came out really great, considering how it looked before hand. The jb weld appears to be doing its job as well. The primer really shows how the surface really looks as of right now. Just a bit more sanding to finish the surface, and it's good to go for the next round of ocean blue.

Hmm...Im not very happy. Ive painted the blue on the other day, and it became bubbly out of no where. Sanded it off and painted it again today, same thing. I am not understanding why this is happening now, this hasnt happend to me unless I purpously tried to...I think I may need to get a new can :ugh: